Jack M. Wilson, Ph.D.,
President
The University of Massachusetts
225 Franklin St 33rd Floor,  Boston, MA 02110
      (617) 287 7050 
       email id: jwilson address: umassp . edu                                        


Dr. Jack Wilson is the 25th President of the University of Massachusetts system, serving since September 2, 2003.  He is a former Professor of Physics, Department Chair, Research Center Director, Dean, Vice President, Provost, and a private sector entrepreneur who founded the ILinc Corporation.  He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and has received many awards for his work in technology in education, higher education policy, and technology driven economic development.

 

During Dr. Wilson's term, the University has grown in many ways.   By the end of 2009,

  • enrollment has increased on all campuses, 

  • the number of student applications is up,

  • student SAT scores are up as are other measures of student preparation,

  • research has more than doubled,

  • we obtained four of the major National Science Foundation ERC or MSP programs (our first),

  • the endowment has tripled from $140 million to $420 million at the end of 2009 , 

  • fee increases have been held to under the cost of living,

  • financial aid internal allocation increased over 7 times, and

  • the University has made great strides in hiring new faculty members. 

  • In 2006, Craig Mello, a Professor at the UMass Medical School won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, and thereby demonstrated just how outstanding the faculty and research are at the University. 

  • Extensive global programs have been launched with China, Germany, South Africa, India, Portuguese speaking countries, and many others.

On March 1, 2009, Dr. Wilson announced that he intended to conclude his Presidency on June 30, 2011.  By giving nearly a year and a half notice to the University, he felt that there would be sufficient time to do a national search for his successor.  <Press Announcement>  ,<Boston Globe>, <Mass High Tech Journal>

 

Dr. Wilson took office following two years of serious state budget cuts that had reduced the state appropriation by approximately $150 million, and at a time when the relationships to the Governor and Legislature were in need of attention.  In the face of these serious challenges, the University embarked upon a program to close the budget gap, rebuild our finances, increase financial aid to students, grow research, build endowment,  increase our support from the business community, and enhance our global opportunities for students and faculty.  In order to emphasize the critical role that the University plays in the Commonwealth, he would often assert that:

"The path to economic and social development in Massachusetts goes through the University of Massachusetts."

 

The economic and social development of the Commonwealth indeed does depend upon the University's teaching, research, and service.  With 60,000 student on five campuses, 45,000 enrollments in UMassOnline, and over 11,000 students graduated into the workforce each year, the University of Massachusetts provides the large scale opportunity for students and employers.  These students change the world in countless ways.  With over $480 million in annual research expenditures, we are right behind MIT and Harvard in external funding for research.  Our $41.4 million in revenue from our research commercialization means that we continue to rank either 1st or 2nd in Massachusetts to MIT with Harvard right behind for the last few years.  Our $2.5 Billion budget in 2009 is seeded with just under $500 million from the Commonwealth -up from $326 million in mid 2003.

 

One of Dr. Wilson's first actions was to completely restructure the UMass Building Authority in anticipation of efforts to rebuild the infrastructure of the University.  While we worked hard to increase capital funding from the state, we knew that we would have to do most of this work ourselves.  In the last six years, we have accomplished over $1.6 Billion in capital projects with only about 20% of that coming from the state.    This includes the first dormitories built in Amherst in the last 30 years.  Dorms, power plants, research buildings, classroom buildings, and athletic facilities have all been built in recent years.  At the Board meeting in the fall of 2007, the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees approved a $2.9 Billion capital plan to guide the University over the coming decade.

 

Prior to becoming President, he served as the Vice President for Academic Affairs of The University of Massachusetts system and CEO of UMassOnline.   Formerly, Dr Wilson was the J. Erik Jonsson '22 Distinguished Professor of Physics, Engineering Science, Information Technology, and Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he had also served as a Dean and interim Provost. Prior to that he served as the head of a scientific society (AAPT) in Washington, DC and as a Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland.

 

Wilson has authored over 55 scholarly articles, wrote or edited five books, and given over 200 invited lectures. He has enjoyed over $23 million in funding for his research and scholarly activities.  Dr. Wilson is nationally and internationally known for his leadership in the reform of higher education programs.   He has also been a successful entrepreneur, as he founded a software company and took it through several rounds of venture capital and two mergers into a public company on the NASDAQ exchange.

 

He became interim President on September 1, 2003 and then was selected as the 25th President on March 24, 2004.

 

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In recognition of his leadership in educational reform, he was honored with

  • The Theodore Hesburgh Award,

  • The Boeing Award, 

  • The Pew Charitable Trust Prize . 

  • An Outstanding Civilian Service Medal by the United States Army for service to the Army Education program.

  • A Fellow of American Physical Society,

  • Service as a national officer of the Physical Society, the American Institute of Physics, and the American Assn. of Physics Teachers. 

  • service as either a member or chair of several National Academy of Science and National Research Council study committees and task forces

  • He was appointed in 2005, by Governor Mitt Romney, as a Massachusetts Commissioner to the Education Commission of the States.

He presently serves on several national organizations:

  • The national Board of Directors of the American Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU)

  • The Chair of the Commission on Innovation Competitiveness and Economic Prosperity (CICEP) of APLU

  • The National Security Higher Education Advisory Board (advising the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security)

  • The national Board of Directors of the Alliance for Research in Science and Technology for America (ASTRA)

  • The U.S. Council on Competitiveness. 

  • the National Leadership Council of the Association of American Colleges and Universities program on Liberal Education and America's Promise. 

  • chairs the Sloan/NASULGC Online Task Force for the Nat. Assn. of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.

 Dr. Wilson also serves on several regional boards including:

  • serves as Co-Chair (with Presidents Drew Faust, Harvard; Susan Hochfield, MIT, and Henri Termeer, Genzyme) of the Massachusetts Life Science Collaborative of Business and Universities.

  • serves as Vice Chair of the Commonwealth Life Science Center charged with dispersing an anticipated $ 1 Billion in investments in the Life Science Sector.  (Five member Board Chaired by the Secretary of Economic Development.)

  • serves as a member of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center board, Chaired by the Secretary of Energy and the Environment

  • the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC),

  • the Massachusetts Business Roundtable (MBR),

  • the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative

  • the John Adams Innovation Institute,

  • the Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative (MassDTI),

  • the New England Council. 

 

Dr. Wilson was the founder, CEO, and Chairman of the LearnLinc Corporation, founded in 1993 as a spin off of his university research and built through three rounds of venture capital from Exponential Investors, Intel Corporation, the New York State Science and Technology Foundation, and GeoCapital Investors.  LearnLinc merged with Allan Communications and Gilat Communications to form the publicly traded (NASDAQ) Mentergy Corporation.

 

His strong interest in the links between higher education and economic development led to becoming the co-founder of the Paul Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship,  the creator of a national workshop series for technology enhanced entrepreneurship education for university faculty, a national advisory committee member for the Kauffman Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program, and a member of the Massachusetts Legislature's Science, and Technology Caucus.  He served on the core internal steering group with MassInsight, the Mass High Technology Council, and other organizations in the development of a Science and Technology Roadmap for Massachusetts. He has served as a consultant to many computing and communications firms including IBM, AT&T, Lucent, Hewlett Packard, and Boeing Flight Safety International. 

 

 

 

 

 

1 May 2010 - J. Wilson